Gelsenkirchen mayor Frank Baranowski, Achim Grossmann, the Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Transport, Building and Urban Affairs, Oliver Wittke, Minister for Building and Transport in North-Rhine Westphalia (NRW) and Winfried Pudenz, General Secretary of the NRW Highways Authority, opened the Erle autobahn tunnel today, in good time for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Work on the A2 autobahn between Buer and Herten commenced in August 2001. The 5.2 kilometre section of road through the Gelsenkirchen suburb of Erle now features three lanes in each direction. To reduce the noise pollution suffered by local residents and re-unite the district, the autobahn has been given a 'lid'. Costing a total of 68 million euros, the resulting 320 metre Erle Tunnel is a state of the art construction. On their way to the Arena drivers can now enjoy a road works free journey to the Gelsenkirchen-Buer autobahn turn-off.

The tunnel will allow the suburb, previously cut in two, to grow back together. An attractive 19,800 m² landscaped area now offers local residents a pleasant means of crossing the autobahn. A total of 410 metres of pathways have been created for this purpose. The tunnel also offers optimum noise protection.

A total of 130 trees and 900 shrubs have been planted, along with some 17,000 ground cover plants and 1,400 wild roses. Six benches and 40 natural stone blocks complete the offering.

Via the pathways Erle residents can now access the walking trail to Haus Leithe, Berge Castle [Schloss Berge] and the Resser Mark area of woodland.

In total, the landscaping work cost 322,000 euros, 80 percent of which was funded by the state government, 20 percent by the City of Gelsenkirchen.